Asbury Artist Series Events Enrich Campus

Artist Series isn’t just a beloved Asbury University tradition — it’s also an outstanding driver of artistic excellence, bringing world-renowned artists and musicians to campus each semester.

This year’s Artist Series kicked off on Friday with a concert featuring composer and organist David Briggs, who performed an improvisational concert over the silent film “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

Briggs previously performed at Artist Series events in 2007 and 2012. Briggs plays more than 60 concerts a year throughout several countries and also teaches at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

“I’m not sure we have many students who had ever seen a silent movie before — it’s such a fun experience!” said Dr. Jill Campbell, who teaches a variety of music methodology courses and heads up the Artist Series committee. “They learned about the art of improvisation from someone who is a master. It was a wonderful night!”

Campbell says the benefits of putting on the Artist Series for the student body is tenfold.

“The Artist Series tries to bring events and people to campus that are new experiences for the students,” Campbell said. “The first goal of the Artist Series is to educate students in the fields of the arts and to engage students in new ways. We also want to provide opportunities for students to be exposed to the arts in new and fresh ways.”

Later in the year, Artist Series will feature a week of artist-in-residence events with Temple University professor and photographer Byron Wolfe in November, a concert by vocalist and actor Whit Whitaker, put on in collaboration with Black Student Alliance in February, as well as a performance from cellist Ben Sollee in March.